Legend board



April 5 G. E. COCKRELL 3,246,413

LEGEND BOARD Filed Oct. 15, 1965 FIG. 2.

/2 20 I 24 I .ZZraB. N 22 INVENTOR. GARY E. COG/(BELL BY MAI /away,f/ALeaer &

HOEAIBAKEE Arraeve'ys United States Patent 3,246,413 LEGEND BOARD GaryE. Cockrcll, San Dimas, Califl, assignor to R. K. Merritt Products,Inc., Azusa, Calif, a corporation of California Filed Oct. 15, 1963,Ser. No. 316,208 2 Claims. (Cl. 40-140) This invention relates to alegend board and, more particularly to a legend board which is adaptedto be utilized in conjunction with a plurality of legend cards of ademountable nature.

Legend boards of the character of that disclosed hereinbelow areutilized as price and menu boards. Conventional legend boards arecharacterized by the incorporation of a plurality of receptacles adaptedto receive a corresponding plurality of resilient legend cards. Thereceptacles of the conventional boards usually incorporate retentionmeans constituted by recessed ribs, or the like, provided in the wallsof the legend card receptacles.

When the legend board is fabricated by vacuum forming processes thefabrication of the aforementioned receptacles entails the utilization ofrelatively complex dies which incorporate removable componentsnecessitating considerable hand labor in the fabrication of the legendboard.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a legend boardwhich is adapted to be fabricated from a single piece of plasticmaterial, such as polystyrene plastic, by a vacuum forming process andwhich is characterized by the elimination of the conventional recessedretention ribs, recesses, or the like, customarily utilized inassociation with the legend card receptacles to maintain the legendcards in operative relationship with the associated receptacles.

Another object of my invention is the provision, in a legend board ofthe aforementioned character, of legend card receiving recesses havingarcuate rear Walls and being separated from one another by "a pluralityof horizontal ribs, said horizontal ribs being formed by vacuum formingand being substantially normal to a vertical plane drawn through thelegend board.

Because the legend board of my invention eliminates the conventionalretention recesses characteristic of prior art devices, it is muchsimpler to manufacturer and much easier to utilize than conventionallegend boards since it can be more readily removed from the forming moldand since the legend cards utilized in conjunction therewith can bereadily installed in and removed from the associated receptacles of thelegend board.

An additional object of my invention is the provision of a legend boardof the aforementioned character which receives the resilient legendcards and maintains them in operative relationship with the associatedreceptacles without the use of additional retention means provided inthe receptacles and which, further, maintains said legend cards in aconcave, rather than convex, attitude so that the legends borne uponsaid cards may be more easily read.

Other objectsand advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawing, which is for thepurpose of illustration only, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a legend board manufactured inaccordance with the teachings of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on the brokenline 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view taken on the brokenline 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the broken line 4-4 ofFIG. 1.

ICC

Referring to the drawing and particularly to FIGS. 1-3 thereof, I show alegend board 10 manufactured in accordance with the teachings .of theinvention and fabricated from a single sheet of thermoplastic material,such as polystyrene, The fabrication of the legend board 10 isaccomplished by the utilization of the vacuum forming process, whichentails, in a manner well-known to those skilled in the art, thedisposition of a sheet of material of appropriate size in a die wherethe sheet is exposed to heat and vacuum to causeit to assume theconfiguration of :the die.

The legend board 10 includes a perimetrical frame 12 which is formedintegrally with the board 10 and which encompasses a space 14 for thereception of an appropriate legend and a plurality of legend cardreceiving receptacles 16. Each of the legend card receiving receptacles16 is provided with a concave back wall 18 and elongtaed lands 20 at theupper and lower extremities of said back wall.

The receptacles 16 are each provided with horizontally oriented top andbottom walls 22 and 24 which define the upper and lower limits of thereceptacle 16. In the case of the uppermost receptacle the top wall 22is defined by the upper edge of the rectangular opening whichencompasess the receptacles l6 and the bottom wall 24 of the lowermostreceptacle 16 is constituted by the lower edge of the rectangularopening 30.

The top and bottom walls 22 and 24 of the intermediate receptacles 16are constituted by the upper and lower surfaces, respectively, of hollowribs which are formed during the vacuum-forming process and which havetheir opposite extremities juxtaposed to the side Walls 41 of therectangular recess 30. It will be noted that the upper and lowersurfaces of the ribs 40 are disposed in horizontal planes substantiallynormal to a vertical plane drawn through the legend board 10. Therefore,it will be apparent that no grooves or other means of aflixing a legendcard, such as the legend card 42, in operative relationship with theassociated receptacle 1.6 is provided.

The absence of such grooves or other means of positive retention of thelegend card 42 in operative relationship with an associated receptacle16 results in ease of installation or removal of the legend card 42 intoor from such operative relationship and, in addition, inateriallyreduces the'cost of fabricating the legend board 10 since it eliminatesthe necessity for the utilization of complex dies which must be providedif grooves are to be formed in .the opposite edges or top and bottomwalls of .the receptacles for the reception of the associated legendcard. In addition, the time involved in the setting up of the dies andthe disassemblying of the formed legend board 10 from operativerelationship with the associated dies is materially reduced thusmaterially reducing the labor costs involved in the fabrication of thelegend board 10.

The utilization of the legend board 10 to mount the flexible legend card42 formed from any suitable type of plastic, such as polystyrene plasticand of rectangular shape, is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 of thedrawing. The legend card 42 will, of course, bear upon its face anappropriate menu item or such other designation as may be appropriate tothe utilization of the legend board 10.

The legend card 42 is resilient and is of slightly greater width thanthe height of the associated receptacle 16. Therefore, when the legendcard 42 is inserted into a corresponding receptacle 16 and theintermediate portion thereof pushed into contiguity with the concaveinner surface of the rear wall 18 of 'the receptacle 16, the upper andlower edges of the legend card 42 are frictionally locked upon thecorresponding top and bottom walls 22 and 24 of the associatedreceptacle 16 to maintain the legend card 42 against inadvertentdisplacement from said receptacle.

Therefore, the necessity for time consuming insertion of the oppositeedges of the legend card 42 into engagement with corresponding groovesor other means of positive retention is eliminated and the legend card42 can be readily installed in and removed from the associatedreceptacle 16. Moreover, the legend card is disposed in a position whichcauses the front surface thereof to be concavely disposed in an arccorresponding to that of the front surface of the rear or back wall 18of the associated recess 16. Therefore, the legend, which is centeredupon the front surface of the legend card 42 may be more accurately readthan is the legend upon conventional legend cards which are customarilypositioned with the front surface thereof convexly disposed which causesa high-light to be created across the legend rendering said legenddiflicult to read. The concave disposition of the front surface of thelegend card 42 eliminates the highlight encountered in the utilizationof customery legend boards and renders the legend upon the legend card4-2 more readily readable.

The top and bottom walls 22 and 24 of each receptacle 16 are adapted toflex slightly as the legend card 42 is inserted into operativeengagement with the associated receptacle 16 and thus the top and bottomwalls 22 and 24 cooperate with the upper and lower edges of the legendcard 42 to maintain said legend card in operative relationship with saidreceptacle. In addition, the elimination of the customary grooves orother positive means of locating the legend card 42 in operativerelationship with an associated receptacle 16 eliminates these elementswhich are apt to act as receptacles for dirt and grease and whichultimately impart an undesirable and, sometimes, soiled appearance toconventional legend cards.

There is thus provided by my invention a legend board which can befabricated as a single unit from a single piece of thermoplastic sheetmaterial and which eliminates the customary positive means of affixinglegend cards in operative relationship with the legend card receptaclesincorporated in the legend board. In addition, the elimination of suchpositive means of aliixation greatly reduces the complexity of the dieswhich must be utilized in fabrieating the legend board of the inventionand thus results in reduced die costs and reduced labor costs entailedin the utilization of such dies in fabricating the legend board of theinvention.

I claim:

1. In a legend board, the combination of: a body formed from a singlesheet of thermoplastic material, said body incorporating an integralperimetrical frame and a plurality of legend card receiving recesses,each of said recesses having a concave rear wall and horizontallyoriented, flat top and bottom walls which are flexible to recess, thetop and bottom walls of said recesses being flat from their outerextremities to the junction of said top and bottom walls with saidconcave rear wall; and a resilient legend card disposed in one of saidrecesses and having its upper and lower edges engageable with said topand bottom walls while the intermediate portion thereof is disposed incontiguity to said rear wall, said top and bottom walls of a respectiverecess permitting the free insertion of said legend card in said recessand its removal therefrom, said legend card being retained in operativerelationship with said recess by the compressive eflect of the deflectedareas of said flexible top and bottom walls.

2. In a legend board, the combination of: a body formed from a singlesheet of thermoplastic material, said body incorporating an integralperimetrical frame and a plurality of legend card receiving recesses,each of said recesses having a concave rear wall and horizontallyoriented, flat top and bottom walls which are flexible to permit theirdeflection by a legend card inserted in said recess, the top and bottomWalls of said recesses being flat from their outer extremities to thejunction of said top and bottom walls with said concave rear wall, eachof said recesses being separated from each other by an integral hollowrib incorporating the bottom wall of one recess and the top wall of theadjacent recess; and a resilient legend card disposed in one of saidrecesses and having its upper and lower edges engageable with said topand bottom walls while the intermediate portion thereof is disposed inc-ontiguity to said rear wall, said top and bottom walls of a respectiverecess permitting the free insertion of said legend card in said recessand its removal therefrom, said legend card being retained in operativerelationship with said recess by the compressive effect of the deflectedareas of said flexible top and bottom walls.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 533,335 1/1895Ackley 40140 X 1,929,468 10/1933 Bales 4016 2,296,596 9/ 1942 Brown40-154 X 2,576,983 12/1951 Walker 4014O 2,847,777 8/1958 Page 40--632,880,537 4/1959 Cygan 4063 X 2,966,754 1/1961 Orkin 40-140 FOREIGNPATENTS 844,685 7/ 1952 Germany. 187,079 10/ 1922 Great Britain.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, LAWRENCE CHARLES,

JEROME SCHNALL, Examiners.

CLYDE I, COUGHENOUR, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A LEGEND BOARD, THE COMBINATION OF: A BODY FORMED FROM A SINGLESHEET OF THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL, SAID BODY INCORPORATING AN INTEGRALPERIMETRICAL FRAME AND A PLURALITY OF LEGEND CARD RECEIVING RECESSES,EACH OF SAID RECESSES HAVING A CONCAVE REAR WALL AND HORIZONTALLYORIENTED, FLAT TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS WHICH ARE FLEXIBLE TO PERMIT THEIRDEFLECTION BY A LEGEND CARD INSERTED IN SAID RECESS, THE TOP AND BOTTOMWALLS OF SAID RECESSES BEING FLAT FROM THEIR OUTER EXTREMITIES TO THEJUNCTION OF SAID TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS WITH SAID CONCAVE REAR WALL; AND ARESILIENT LEGEND CARD DISPOSED IN ONE OF SAID RECESSES AND HAVING ITSUPPER AND LOWER EDGES ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS WHILETHE INTERMEDIATE PORTION THEREOF ITS DISPOSED IN CONTIGUITY TO SAID REARWALL, SAID TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS OF A RESPECTIVE RECESS PERMITTING THEFREE INSERTION OF SAID LEGEND CARD IN SAID RECESS AND ITS REMOVALTHEREFROM, SAID LEGEND CARD BEING RETAINED IN OPERATIVE RELATIONSHIPWITH SAID RECESS BY THE COMPRESSIVE EFFECT OF THE DEFLECTED AREAS OFSAID FLEXIBLE TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS.